Studio Operations Manager (Jensen Architects)

Date: April 9, 2026
Position Title: Studio Operations Manager
Status: Full-time

Firm Profile

Jensen Architects is an award-winning, 30-person, design-oriented architecture firm located in downtown San Francisco. Our studio is currently engaged in a variety of creative design work including cultural, educational, residential, workplace, and mixed-use projects of various scales. We’re interested in a critical approach to design, engaging contemporary culture, and exploring innovative construction techniques in search of design solutions that are elegant, effective, and environmentally sensitive.

The Role

The Studio Operations Manager is the singular, go-to team member in our office that functions as the liaison between Principals, design teams, administrative colleagues and external collaborators. The role is no small feat – you are responsible for the seamless operational success of the practice. You thrive as a proactive self-starter with an entrepreneurial spirit, managing every detail of how we work. Believing that no task is too large or too small, this position is driven by the ethos that operational excellence underpins design excellence. You are our engine room, and everyone knows it.

What You Will Do

Enhance Studio Performance and Operations

• Create the structure, clarity, and support that allows architects and designers to do their best work.
• Continuously improve operational processes and standards.
• Oversee an environment that reflects smooth day-to-day functioning of the studio through reasonable policies, procedures, and systems that are rational and not overcomplicated.
• While you lean in on policies and structure, you do it with a creative and infectious flare that breeds adoption and compliance.
• Lead weekly operational meetings and manage staffing dashboards. Deliver action items by collaborating with studio leaders (and consultants when applicable) to maintain critical information.
• Lead monthly studio meetings – from calendar invites to studio updates – work with leadership to develop agendas and content to share with the full studio and manage follow up items.
• Continually encourage an admirable firm culture by engaging and connecting our team through events and social gatherings – all elements of the operational budget you will manage.
• Collaborate on talent-related initiatives such as Performance Reviews and Professional Development Programs, onboarding, new hire set up, and interview coordination.
• Keep the studio PTO calendar accurate by encouraging adoption and addressing nonconformance.

Project Management

• Beyond being in the loop, you are the loop for Studio Leadership, Project Accountants and Project Managers, coordinating contracts and fees so that project finances and performance are consistently accurate.
• Assist with updating staffing and revenue plans and project schedules as required.
• Be a go-to resource for our teams to understand, meet, and exceed project-related metrics.

Marketing Support

• Connect dots and identify opportunities to cultivate client relationships and execute on those ideas (i.e. quarterly client outreach via CRM and quarterly account reviews, client events at the studio).
• Thrive as a critical, tangential member of the marketing team – providing support that ranges from ROI analysis and collateral production to research and project data collection. This skillset solidifies your reputation as the engine room of the studio.

Administrative Support

• Provide administrative support for Studio Leadership, including calendar management and arranging meetings with clients, potential clients and collaborators.
• Assist Studio Leaders with expenses and tracking professional credentials.
• You are the go-to resource across the office for questions about “how to _____.”
• If you don’t have an answer, you know the right channels to get it.
• You bring an air of hospitality to the studio, making a well-run environment look easy (when we know it's not).
• On your watch, the studio is polished, tidy, and welcoming.

Your Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in an operational role, ideally within the design profession.
• Exceptional attention to detail with strong organizational skills.
• Systems thinker, continuously striving for improvement.
• Ability to prioritize tasks, take ownership, and demonstrate initiative with consistent followthrough.
• Proven success managing multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.
• You communicate with confidence and warmth, excel at relationship-building and you enjoy collaborating with individuals at all levels.
• Mastery of Google Workspace (including managing multiple calendars). Basic proficiency in Adobe Suite required. Familiarity with Copper or similar CRM systems preferred.
• Impressive verbal and written communication skills are a must.
• Local and non-locals who are open to relocation are encouraged to apply, but you must be
  authorized to work in the United States.